The GSX-S is on track

Over the past few months with the big Suzuki, I kept asking myself THE question. Well, I say THE question like that because this is a very close sibling to arguably the greatest track lineage of motorcycles ever – the GSX-Rs.

The rider The former editor of MSL and now editor of Motor Cycle Monthly, along with website MoreBikes.co.uk, Tony’s been riding almost 30 years. He currently owns a Suzuki RGV250 and a Yamaha YZR500 replica.

The bike Cost new: £9499 Performance: 143.5bhp, 78lb-ft Wet weight: 209kg Tank size: 17 litres Seat height: 810mm

This month Miles: 383 Miles in total: 884 Average mpg: 52 Highlights: Brilliant track fun PLUS road manners Lowlights: Can’t think of one (too roomy a seat for serious track riding… erm…)

So yeah, THE question will do to describe the one thing I was left really wanting to know about this bike – how it’d behave on track. After all, it’s an excellent road-going motorcycle, but life on the road (and the various elements you need to incorporate into a bike to make it so manageable on pot-holed Tarmac) doesn’t always mean that the same motorcycle is going to be fun on circuit.

It often means that the bike is too safe, too lacklustre, for fun. In the effort to calm down 1000cc of prime beef so it’s manageable on the road a factory can sometimes smooth things out way too much, or leave you with dozens of electronic systems to attempt to disable.

With the Suzuki – I’m delighted to say – things aren’t quite like that. Firstly, it’s two-switch-easy to turn off the electronic aids. Secondly, all that liveliness and energy that’s just-intouch reachable on the road romps into each session on track.

The chassis is great at pace. Predictable and solid, but small and flickable. It feels like a 600 on the move. The riding position’s roominess that saves a lot of pain on the road is, in reality, too roomy when you’re on track, so you have to wedge yourself into the bike more than you would normally, otherwise you slide about around the seat.

Fuelling is very instant on the track – ideal. I’ve mentioned that other riders have picked up on the fuelling – criticising it – but I am now surer of saying that there is very little wrong here. Yep, it’s a bit snatchy but so what? This is a GSX-R in all but name, it SHOULD be slightly aggressive and hard-edged.

Engine-wise the motor may ‘only’ have 143bhp but it’s enough. I could hold onto the back of 2015 Yamaha R1s and GSX-R1000s without stress down Silverstone’s back straight, and the punch out of the turns was only marginally slower than the more pure race-bred bikes. Impressive throughout.

For me there are three things that niggle about this bike on track:

1 The footrests go down way too early (its lean angle is limited by the height of the pegs for the relaxed riding position); 2 The riding position and high bars turn you into a sail unless you’re licking the paint off the tank; 3 The brakes seem vague at full pressure when compared to the GSX-R, and I don’t know why – I assume it’s a combination of hard braking and the sail effect of popping up into the wind when hard on the brakes at high speed. It’s the same brakes on the road and race bikes, after all.

But none of those niggles are serious enough to put a dampener on the sheer fun of riding the big S on track. It’s sharp, responsive and pure fun. I didn’t finish a lap without a screaming urge to do another.

On top of that you can factor in this – I put the TomTom Rider 400 sat-nav on the bike in the morning, rode for a couple of hours along some nice wiggly roads, then headed to the track, got there and rode all day on circuit and then rode back home. On the same bike, in comfort and without issue.

For £9.5k that’s a helluva thing to say. And I can’t think of a bike I’d have had as much fun on doing a similar thing. Track box ticked. Awesome.